The Beginning of the End
by Fake Nuclear Hydrogen
Summary: AuRikku. Rikku didn't expect to get into something bigger than she could handle now she's going to need all the help she can get to get out.
1. Dirty Al Bhed!

A/N: Yep, guess what, it's **another** AuRikku fic. And if you're anti-Auron x Rikku, too bad, I'm not changing it. So don't flame me with: OMG AURON IS LIKE DEAD. Yes, I /know/ he's dead. And that doesn't stop me from liking the pair. D Sorry. Rate, Review, just be kind, thanks.

First fan fiction EVER. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X; in fact I don't own any of the Final Fantasies. If I did own Final Fantasy X and all the characters, Auron and Rikku would obviously be with Auron, if you can't tell. Anyways.

Pathetically, I do own this story. Any characters that I make up as well I also own. So there. Now enjoy my pathetic attempt at a fan fiction. :D

And lyrics before a story, I've seen multiple times. So, if you started the idea, feel free to tell me to take it down and I will. (:

**Turn around and smell what you don't see  
Close your eyes ... it is so clear  
Here's the mirror, behind there is a screen  
On both ways you can get in **

Don't think twice before you listen to your heart  
Follow the trace for a new start

What you need and everything you'll feel  
Is just a question of the deal  
In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove  
The experience of survival is the key  
To the gravity of love

Gravity of Love, Enigma.

Wake up in the morning; attempt to fight off two sissy-boys who try to get your dearest cousin back on the road of suicide. Too bad they're not so sissy, too bad they completely /demolished/ the machine you put so much effort into while barely breaking a sweat. Too bad they rescued your cousin, and now she has to go back on her journey towards suicide.

Right after the explosion, as soon as the cousin escaped with the blond and the empty-headed-looking red haired guy, she swam to the surface. Quickly, almost out of breath, considering she was that startled from the explosion; had no idea that it was coming and absolutely no time to take in a good breath before swimming to the surface. Kick, KICK! The slower you go the closer you are to death, and the closer you are to death, the more you'll hear your fathers voice echoing in your head. Telling you that your attempt was pathetic, and that you should've been tougher when fighting. Or maybe telling you that you should suck it up and not drown.

With one last pull of the arms, her head popped up above the surface. Gasping for air, she found herself barely able to pull enough air to satisfy her oxygen-deprived lungs. Her eyelids fluttered as she took in more of the clean air; at last they weren't deprived, or feel as if they were about to burst. Glancing around nervously for the moment, checking about to see if anyone was around. No one. Good.

Now that no one was around, she felt as if she could let herself swim to the shore, and lay on the ground in one pathetic heap. Ready. One. Two. Three. Hoisting herself out of the water, she laid flat on the ground, staring at the warm and welcoming sky, savoring this one moment of peace. It was bliss. It was perfect. Too bad in the near future, moments like this would be completely rare, and maybe not even completely peaceful. But if she was lucky, she would get another moment like this to be by herself, unbothered, left alone. Wouldn't that be the greatest? Yeah, I think so too.

Rolling onto her stomach, she drew in a long breath, closing her eyes; a nap would be pretty great. I mean, you need rest to help take care of cuts, scratches and bruises, right? Well, after that explosion and getting whooped by two guys she didn't know, she was going to need some extra sleep. Her fingers and legs twitched, and for a fact, she knew that when her nap was over, her muscles would cramp up, her bones would ache. They'd probably even scream at her to lay back down and go to sleep. Rolling her eyes from behind her eyelids, she forgot about this, as she slowly fell asleep.

Water droplets slid down her pale skin and collected in a small pool around her small, slender frame. Her hair was messed up, and everything displaced. This didn't concern her, at least not at the moment. It would when the travel back to Home was in order. Would she ever get to see Home again? If she somehow got back there, I mean it was a wonder how she got here.

Then again, she never paid any attention when she wasn't the one who was in charge of getting somewhere. She just tagged along, grinned and made everyone have the time of their life. She was the center of the party. She was, to be straightforward, what kept people grinning. Her high-pitched voice, her bottomless pit of energy, sometimes she even wondered where she got that energy. Her mind began to wander away from her. Mentally she begged for it to come back to her head, rather than walk away into the forest. The soft patting of footsteps against the earthen ground was barely loud enough for her to hear. But she could hear it.

Maybe you can suck in your stomach so much that you start to disappear in the ground. Wouldn't that be great? Because they'd walk by, see that she was an Al Bhed and in one second she wouldn't be just Rikku anymore. She'd be Pizza a la Rikku. She'd be Rikku, tenderly grilled on a barbeque. Just because she was a 'dirty Al Bhed' as she had heard the red head character say loudly as he attacked her with that god-awful ball thing that he had. Wasn't that a blitzball that he used? Huh, never really crossed her mind. Maybe she shouldn't worry about such things especially when there were people, or person, coming in her direction.

But why wasn't she dissolving into the soft grass? Why, why, why! Was nothing going her way? Was it: Let's beat up Rikku day? I guess so; I mean right now she was feeling about as pathetic as could be. In a jumbled heap, still in that skintight Al Bhed costume that anyone could recognize a mile away. Sinking into the ground just wasn't working, so perhaps standing up might do better, standing up and running? If she could feel her knees, she totally would. But the fact that her legs were starting to cramp up, which meant trouble for the young Al Bhed girl as the footsteps just kept on getting closer.

This was like torture! She couldn't get up, and she didn't even bother to turn over to see who was coming. Finally the suspense was killing her, slaughtering her from the inside out. Slowly, she sat upright, leaning back on the palms of her hands, and the feeling that her legs were going to cramp up did not disappear. Though as the footsteps came closer, she began to realize that the outline that was a human was Tidus. Good old Tidus, the guy that she saved after he'd be intoxicated by Sin's poison. And he talked so much about this Zanarkand that was from the past. What he said of it made her want to believe that he was telling the truth. It made her want to actually go and visit this place. Maybe once Sin was defeated he'd take her there, just as friends, just for a visit. After all, all the machina that they had… She'd be in heaven, learn how they worked and bring the technology back to Home.

Yeah. Right. And Yevon-worshippers would stop thinking badly of the Al Bheds and their use of the 'forbidden' machina. Ooo… Scary, no? Yeah, I thought so. Although in this heavily decorated Al Bhed-styled clothing, she figured that Tidus wouldn't recognize her. Then again… He had seen her in the very same clothing on the day he rescued her. Which was a while back, wasn't it? Ah, hell, who knew, not like she paid any attention to the time. Besides, it was probably just another figment of your imagination that Sin created to try and mess you up. Bah. Who needed that crap about Sin? I mean, Sin almost seemed to own any of those Yevon-believers who were so scared of it; they'd jump out of their pants.

The image of this made her giggle that childish giggle that she always had, the one that always seemed to make people raise an eyebrow, or laugh themselves. As Tidus got closer, she began to realize that one of the sissy-looking boys that were fighting her was Tidus himself. Ah man… What a big meanie head! Then again, it wasn't like he knew that Rikku was in that machine trying to protect Yuna from dying. Which was contrary to the popular belief that she was going to try and stop Yuna's pilgrimage because the Al Bhed were going to join up with Sin and take over Spira together! Gasp! That was outrageous! Rikku didn't even know if people thought about it like that. Huh. Curious, but now was no time to wonder, now was the time to have a big old reunion of friends! Group hug! Awww.

"Rikku! Rikku, is that you?" the blond haired male figure asked as he neared, tilting his head in curiosity. It had to be, same small body figure, same curves, same hair, same over decorated costume.

"Tidus! It's been a long time no see, how ya' been?" Her voice was bubbly, lively, the same as it was before.

Tidus gave a corny smile, while immediately his cheeks flushed to a deep red, and while he tried to answer her question, his words became fumbled. His breath was caught in his throat while he pathetically tried to choke up some kind of comprehendible mess of a sentence. Was she doing what he thought she was? Was she… STRIPPING? He was hoping that she had something under that. Yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from her form that slowly emerged from the suit that she wore.

Droplets of water sliding down the bare skin of her arms, and the bit of stomach that showed. Goggles around her neck, a bright orange tank top, skimpy grass green shorts, trimmed with another color of green. Perhaps lace? A glove on one hand, the other was bare, due to the fact that there was no battle going on right now. Except for maybe a mental battle going on in Rikku's head, or Tidus's head. Then finishing pulling off that godforsaken suit, green, brown and tan colored boots now being revealed, as well as much more leg. Rikku giggled again, "Hey! There's nothing to be nervous about, it's just me, tee-hee!"

"… Oh, uh, yeah." Pathetic Tidus, really… Pathetic. The least you could do was answer her question correctly this time. "Oh, uh, I've been doing fine. Coming across Sin here and there, rescuing Yuna from some Al Bhed machina," pause. Why did Rikku look so beat up? "And you… You look more beat up than normal."

"Well I should, shouldn't I!" She paused, becoming slightly hysterical, probably in a way that would make anyone giggle at how funny she looked. "You made my project blow up with ME in it! You… You… You big meanie!"

"Wha-What! YOU were in that machina!" Why was he so surprised? He knew Rikku was an Al Bhed.

"Well, yeah, who'd you think it was?"

"… I don't know, some… Guy."

Wow Tidus, you're sure witty. Wait, who's coming up behind him? Is that… It is! It's Yunie! Cousin Yunie! Rikku giggled and bounced on the balls of her toes some more, Tidus had friends now! Well, he was probably whining and they were probably reluctant on taking care of him. This thought made her giggle some more. Hey… It was the red-haired guy that helped Tidus kick the living goat cheese out of her machine. And her. Time to introduce herself.

Put on your best smile, give that hair a good flick of the hand, and make those guys drop dead to the ground with those gorgeous emerald green eyes. It always works; it always gets them. Then hug your cousin so tight that she can't breathe. Sounded like a good plan. But of course, plans are for people who walk with a stick up their posterior. Plans are for people who are too serious for their own good. Plans are for people who don't believe in having fun, or searching for what you find enjoyable.

"Heya guys! You all know Tidus?" Rikku chirped in a singsong tone.

"You could say that," came a darker, monotone voice from the back. Lulu, the dark mage, the legendary black magician, the… Woman who carried a doll.

"Good to see he found someone willing to take care of him," Rikku chirped. There was a small smile on her face, even before she saw Yuna. But, as Yuna came into view, that small smile turned into the largest, cheesiest grin ever. "YUNIE!" With that, Rikku sprung into action. Although first impressions are important, so was a family reunion, besides, you've gotta' have some fun sometime or another. Rikku ran up to her cousin, and looked her in the eyes. Those beautiful bi-colored eyes, without those cursed Al Bhed swirls, then again, those swirls sometimes swept those guys right off their feet. Her hands were placed on Yuna's shoulders, and for the one moment, she felt horrible for delaying her pilgrimage. It was all in good spirit, right? Not really… They were stopping all those pilgrimages; she was sick and tired of the summoners sacrificing themselves to stop Sin for ten years. Ten measly years. Now if it were for like… say hundred or so years it'd be worth it. Maybe… If she became Yuna's guardian then she could take more chances to save Yunie…

Yuna had decided that it'd be best to introduce everyone to Rikku, I mean, what good was it to have a meeting without her getting to know EVERYONE. So many more new names to memorize. But then again, "Who are all these people? All of them guardians?" Rikku had asked. So the consequence of that question was indeed Yuna's answer.

"You know Tidus, and that over there is Wakka," So Wakka was the red head guy that she was fighting against. The one that said that she was a dirty Al Bhed and Yevon would get her. Except he didn't know that Rikku was the actual one inside the machine. Yuna continued after the short pause, "Over there is Kimahri, he's been my guardian for a long while. That's Lulu over there, she's good with black magic," Rikku gave a friendly wave, and another overly cheesy smile as Yuna continued. "That's Sir Auron over there," Yuna said with a smile, pointing in Auron's direction. Not meaning to be rude, of course, just so that Rikku could see whom she was talking about.

"It's good to meet you all, I'm Rikku!" As she said this, she struck a pose, both hands on her hip, and head held high, looking as if she had a little too much confidence in herself. Of course, it was just for people to get the impression that just because she was younger than everyone here, she wasn't to be taken advantage of. And no, you perverts, not in that way. There was some silence, Wakka gave a wave, and Lulu gave a small nod of the head. Tidus didn't do anything, considering that he, well, knew her from earlier. Kimahri and Auron showed no emotion, but that's not really a big surprise, now is it? "I want to be your guardian, Yuna!" Rikku said at last, to break the silence. Personally, she was surprised that she said that, but she didn't even show that she was surprised that she said it. Even though she knew that becoming Yuna's guardian would mean that she was going to support the pilgrimage, it would have a benefit of being able to talk to her more. You know, the chance to attempt and talk her out of suicide.

_I want to be your guardian, Yuna! _Why did she even think of doing this? Yuna was equally surprised, but not in a bad way, in fact Yuna would love it. She would have agreed right then and there, but Auron stepped up. The look in his eye suggested that Rikku would just be a burden. Quite frankly, that's what was going through Auron's head, he felt as if Rikku would slow them down, and why? Auron didn't know the answer to why she would, but it was a gut feeling. But maybe, just maybe… Nah, she had too much spirit and too much energy for her own good.

"Are you sure that you want to become a guardian? It takes responsibility; it takes strength and courage. As well as personal sacrifice to your own needs," Auron had emphasized the word responsibility and strength more than courage.

Which, seemed to offend Rikku, but there was no reason for her to show it. "Yes! I'm sure I want to be Yunie's guardian!"

"Look at me," Auron said, flatly, monotone, emotionlessly.

Rikku hesitated, looked up at him, eyes tightly shut. If he knew that she was an Al Bhed…

"Open your eyes." As he spoke he took her chin in her hand, lifting it upwards so he could get a better look at her.

"Uhm…" Once again, Rikku hesitated, but best be on Sir Auron's good side, right? Better make your best impression! She opened one eye, mentally cursing at the swirls that dubbed her as an Al Bhed.

The man standing in front of her made a small grunting noise, as if he was telling her that she was pathetic.

"No… good?" she asked, her eyebrows raised, and her voice gone awfully close to a whimper, or a whiney child.

"And you're positive you want to become a guardian?"

"Yes! I'm more than positive!"

"Then it's Yuna's decision." With that, Auron took away his hand, and stepped away, looking over to Yuna.

"Yes, I'd like Rikku to become my guardian, besides, the more the merrier." It was always amazing how Yuna always stayed so upbeat, even if it was in denial of her future.

"The more the merrier! I'll be the merriest!" Rikku added with another giggle, and she hopped in the air on one foot, and pumped her fist towards the sky. Kind of like a motion of victory. Wakka chuckled under his breath seeing this motion, and at her statement of being the merriest, maybe people would call her an airhead now, and he wouldn't be the target of everyone's airhead insults.

"So then it is decided, we continue," again, the same monotone, deep voice that was Auron had spoke. Before Rikku knew it, there they were, heading into the Macalania forest. Rikku was excited, she'd get to show off her brand-spankin'-new movies, and a super cool ninja battle pose. No way was she going to screw this up! Then again, that Auron guy would probably… End up actually hunting her flaws down. Try to actually find something wrong with what she was doing. But, hey, she wasn't going to let herself be bothered by that if it ever happened.

Now was a time to concentrate, Macalania temple, here we come!

A/N: Hey! My first time writing a fanfiction, ever, and I mean EVER! If you don't like the style I write in, too bad, I'm not changing it. Sorry. But I like my style.

Now please don't review and say: But that's not what everything goes like in the game! Okay? Because, well, I kind of like it when it's not exactly like the game. Of course I'll use some quotes from the game when needed, but I won't do exactly as the game did. Because then that's not fanfiction, right? Right.

Did that make sense? I sure hope it did.

Chapter two will be available… Soon. Because even though I'm not inspired, I enjoy writing this. (: And there WILL be some AuRikku lovins, just not right now. It's chapter one. And stuff like that usually doesn't happen in the first chapter. xD;


	2. Guadotsunami was it?

A/N: Yep, this is the famous, wanting to be seen, glorious, magnificent, powerful, moving, none of the above Chapter 2! Enjoy it. (: I really hope that I'm not just writing this and getting no feedback.

The review button is down below, click it!

Disclaimer: Yeah. I don't own them, none of the original characters, none of the settings etc, unless I've made them up.

Your world is coming to it's end  
But you don't have to be afraid - I'm here for you  
Save your happiness for tomorrow  
And today we'll drown in your tears  
A drop of your blood tastes like wine today

Come closer my dear  
It is just the beginning of the end  
Yes, I'm here for you  
Save your happiness for tomorrow  
And today we'll drown in your tears  
A drop of your blood tastes like wine today

The Beginning of the End, HIM

Rikku had completely forgotten how confusing the Macalania Forest was. Never had she actually been inside the forest, but she'd heard the stories of the many paths, the many fiends. The many fiends! Now would be a great chance to show off your mad skills at stealing things for the party. With Rikku, they wouldn't need to stop at rest stops for those stupid potions. She could steal, like, items better than that! Score! Who's the winner now! She is, she is, she is!

Rikku was ahead of the party, not by much, which caused for hesitation whenever a fork in the road occurred. Never straying too far away from the party, in case there was a fiend ready to pounce upon young Al Bhed meat. After all, it was rumored that Al Bhed meat was the most tender. Well, no; but that's beside the point, isn't it? Now what was the town, city, thing that was after the Forest, before the Temple? Guadotsunami? No… That didn't sound right, maybe it'd be best to ask.

"Hey, you guys know when the next stop is? I forgot the name, and it's really bothering me that I don't know it." She was so cheerful sounding that it was amazing. No one answered just yet, which made Rikku a little impatient. "Come on! Someone's got to know, right?" At this point, she had stopped, pivoting on her heel and resting a hand on her hip, tilting her head to the side as she continued to wait for an answer. Was it really that hard to just tell her?

"It's called Guadosalam. It is the homeland to Lord Jyscal, and Maester Seymour," Auron had answered, giving her what looked to be some kind of death glare. Perhaps he was telling her that she needed to shut up and keep walking. Then again, there was that glint in his eye that suggested that she needed to become Chocobo food.

But, but, but, Sir Auron, Al Bhed's don't make very good Chocobo meat, they've tried, and they seemed to just get food poisoning; that would be the response that she would have given if she caught that glint in his eye. But because she didn't, she simply gave a bright grin, and nodded. "Thanks!" Then she continued down one of the bluish green tinged branches of tree that they were walking down. Except she seemed to be skipping. Most people wouldn't be seen skipping through the Macalania forests, because of how it was infested, and I mean infested, with fiends. But everything was great and happy in the land of Rikku. With pretty butterflies of red, blue green, yellow, and you get the point.

Something rustled in the bushes, which caused Rikku to completely freeze. Become alert, and totally un-Rikku like. Become cautious and watchful. Yuna gave a small gasp of fear, taking a few steps backwards as the bulky form of a Chimera stepped forward. Staring the whole group down. Yes, the whole group.

"There's no way around it, we have to fight," Wakka had stated, his eyebrows were raised, and he was holding his blitzball in the most threatening way you can imagine. He stood protectively in front of Yuna. This beast wasn't going to hurt the Summoner in training, and if it did, it'd have a taste of blitzball. At that moment it seemed that everyone had gathered around Yuna for protection. Lulu was right next to her, the small doll that she carried looked almost menacing right now. As she was picking out a spell to cast on the chimera. Tidus had out his blade, and he struck a defensive pose. The tassels hung down in a way that caught Rikku's eye. Causing her, for just a split to lose concentration and admire it.

Now Kimahri looked as if you did not want to irritate him, he looked as if he'd slash your head off with one _SWOOSH!_ of his lance. Just the thought of it gave Rikku the chills. She could picture it. Her head on a plate with apples around the neck and a piece of lettuce resting on the hair.

"_Here's your dinner, Master Ronso!" the waiter would say. _

_Kimahri would only nod and look gracious. _

"Hey! Let me show you what /I/ can do!" Rikku added with even more of an upbeat voice. Her voice lacked seriousness, which made Auron question what her reasons for becoming a guardian.

Auron came to her side, as well as Kimahri, looks as if they didn't trust her word. Maybe she wasn't strong, but she was quicker than any of them combined. Auron took the first strike, the Chimera didn't even budge, and it didn't even look affected by the strike. Kimahri took the next shot, managing to strike it closer to one of the heads nearest them. Again, it didn't even budge. Despite the fact that significant damage was dealt.

"You don't trust that I can do anything, do you!" Rikku whined, her eyebrows raised upwards as she looked incredibly pathetic. At this time, Wakka cut in, gently pushing her back, this wasn't a time to fool around. Maybe if a weaker monster came in they'd let her fight, but now was time for real men to do the job. Of course Tidus was a man, but he was busy guarding Yuna with his life.

The blitzball flew through the air, hitting the beast in the head, it looked weaker now. Wakka took his turn again, followed by Kimahri and then Auron. But when the Chimera attacked Wakka, the arm that threw the blitzball well became injured. To an extent where he couldn't even hold his deadly weapon. This lead to a long string of cursing under his breath. Because I'm sure if anyone heard, Yevon would get him for using such horrific language. He felt like a failure. "Yuna… I'm sorry," he whispered, forcing on a smile.

"Oh Wakka! Don't be sorry! It's not your fault, here, let me take care of that," Yuna responded, her voice was tender. And by itself almost seemed to heal the wound. It reeked with healing powers, it reeked with kindness.

Okay Rikku! Take another shot at fighting off this Chimera, it's pretty close to dead, and you have a few things up your sleeve, don't you? Of course she does. She wouldn't be Rikku without something up those sleeves. "My turn, and believe me when I say I can do it!" Auron and Kimahri had given her an awkward look.

Auron looked cynical, only making a single grunt at the blond Al Bhed. Watching, almost seeming to be interested in the attempt that Rikku was going to make. Having no idea whatsoever what her strengths and weaknesses were. Then again, it wasn't like he cared about what her strengths and weaknesses were. She'd probably be gone in a matter of no time. He gave another grunt just as Rikku made her strike. Stealing an elemental gem, tucking it away for later use.

"Hey guys! Stand back if you want to live to see tomorrow! Tee-hee!" Like always, her voice was more childish and… and girly. Neither Kimahri nor Auron seemed to move an inch, and the look in Auron's eye… Oh, Rikku could've slaughtered him with that look that she was given. Suit themselves, they were going to be more injured than they wanted to be by the end of this. With a soft giggle, she pulled out a grenade and chucked it into the air, then sped off back towards the group. Unbelievable speed.

Maybe Rikku was right, maybe he should have backed off when she told him to. Auron's eye only seemed to follow the grenade that was quickly cutting through the air with grace. As it slowly started to pummel down towards the Chimera, he shot back towards the group, as well as Kimahri. The explosion was great, and they nearly escaped it.

"Wow… Rikku, I never knew that you had such skill," Tidus said, staring at the sight of the previous explosion that had a killed off Chimera.

"It's not skill! It's just having the proper items, that's it. It's nothing too hard, and then aim. You gotta' have aim! 'Cause if you miss. Then… KABOOM/You're/ the one that's raining down gross body parts and stuff."

"I never… thought of it that way, to be honest." He put away his blade calmly. With a completely different newfound respect for Rikku.

"Well, you never know, it might not go like that! Now come on! We have a temple to get to!" Jumping cheerfully into the air, she began to run in the direction towards Guadosalam, stopping as she passed by Auron. "I don't know why you didn't run when I told you to, it's like you don't trust my judgment or something. I don't know what it is, for all I know it could be Rikku-phobia, but you should trust me." Pause. Maybe you shouldn't say anything to the Legendary Guardian, after all, he has that… One mother load of a sword that could probably take off your head like a pin pops a balloon. So if you want to keep your head, you should probably leave it be. But no, Rikku just had to continue, didn't she? "I'm not a bad person, you know, and just because I'm young, blond and energetic doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing!" She was becoming hysterical.

Auron was looking amused, his eyebrows were raised. Not even bothering to say anything, just making a simple hand motion that signified for her to get walking, or continue her obnoxious rant on how she wasn't a bad person. Or what was she talking about again?

"Ugh! You're just… Just a big meanie head! I don't even know why Yunie wants you as a guardian, she must've been, like, crazy or something when she told you that you could be a guardian."

Silence, silence and more silence, but once again, no surprise is it. Auron was simply ignoring the little blond Al Bhed twerp that was hysterically speaking to him as if it was going to be the end of the world. How sad. "We take our leave."

Rikku's eyes widened, did he just… Totally ignore what she was saying? Ohhh… He was going to get it one day. Now everything just needed to wait. How much longer could this trip through the forest last? Hopefully not much longer, I mean it was… so dark in here, and not to mention damp and a little cold. No sun, either. What was someone who enjoyed the desert supposed to do without the sun?

Auron began to walk forward, leading the group, quickly followed by Wakka, with his arm feeling better, thanks to Yuna's quick healing. Maybe she should start some kind of healing agency. '**Yuna! For all your healing needs!**' or maybe '**Yuna! Whenever the hospital declines your badly injured state!**' Yuna was walking side by side with Wakka, and they seemed to be enjoying each other's company, smiling, and chuckling every once in a while. Rikku just stood off to the side, watching in disbelief at how Auron could just waltz on ahead as if he was the leader of this crusade towards suicide. Ooo… the nerve of that guy. Even after just meeting him, Rikku felt as if she knew him forever and that there were times that she just wanted to unscrew that head of his and kick it into some kind of river. For sure, this trip was going to be miserable with him traveling with them. Like father would say, 'Suck it up! Get through it you pansy!' Or something like that, Rikku couldn't exactly remember.

"He's frustrating, isn't he?" Tidus mused aloud when he was standing next to Rikku, waiting politely for her to start walking. Maybe Rikku would be the person that he could rant about all of Auron's problems to.

"Tell me about it, he walks around as if he's the king of the jungle, doesn't he?"

"More or less. You just have to get used to him, kind of like a cold sore. You just have to warm up to him and hope that he gets used to you and stuff."

"Psh. As if he's ever going to get used to me, I thought he was going to die when he saw that I was right about him needing to run when I threw the grenade."

"He probably was about to die," Tidus chuckled, as did Rikku.

Maybe this trip wouldn't be as bad as Rikku thought it was going to be, at least there was someone here who she could rant about how much Mr. Legendary Guardian was ticking her off. Sighing once, Rikku placed both hands behind her head, elbow out, walking at a normal pace next to Tidus. The group looked as if they'd gotten a little farther ahead, but there was no need to catch up, it's not as if they were going to die if they didn't, right? Right. Besides, they'd have to wait up for them in Guadosalam.

The rest of the trip through the forest went quite smooth, no fiends attacking them, and no one starting any bickering at all. Which Lulu was grateful for, there was no whining from Tidus. No attempting-to-be-witty comments from Wakka. Before everyone knew it, there they were at the outskirts of Guadosalam. Everyone walked ahead, though Auron, for a reason, had stood at the side. Watching carefully as everyone passed him, till Rikku passed by, when he stuck out his hand, stopping her in her spot. "Stop."

"What? What'd I do now?" she whined, taking a step back to be away from that hand of his. It was probably dripping with some kind of poison to kill her.

"Nothing, yet. I'm just warning you. You better be careful. The Guado aren't the most keen on the Al Bhed," Auron said, glancing down at her. No worry was in his eye, but Rikku could've sworn that she saw something in his eye scream: Do something wrong so that they maim you!

"And…?"

"I'm telling you to be careful, to watch yourself. Because this is where Maester Seymour currently resides, and you better watch your mouth. If you say something wrong, it's going to cause on long line of consequences."

Was he acting concerned over her? Nah, he was just saying this to make her feel young and stupid. "I might be younger than you, but believe it or not I do have a sense of respect, and responsibility," she paused, perhaps trying to think of something else to say. "But I only give my respect to those who really deserve it. And you're doing a really good job at not deserving it!"

At this point Auron thought he'd made his point, he said nothing further, and left without further word to Rikku. What a strange girl she was, what made her think that he wanted her respect. Giving a grunt, he walked off, again in that 'I'm the leader, you better listen to me' kind of way.

The nerve of that man. Rikku sighed, she wasn't going to win, never, no way she could, either. Oh, well, you might as well just live with it. Might as well enjoy Guadosalam, it'll be the last good shelter, and good meal that she'll probably have for a while. It sure was pretty though, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander around. As she began to space off, feeling slightly like a princess in some kind of fairytale, the rude and abrupt voice of Auron telling her to hurry up and get with the group.

"Come on, we don't have time to wander around, Maester Seymour awaits our arrival."

"…" No response, what were you going to say. Just comply, and run towards the entrance to the grand mansion that was probably worth a fortune. Sigh. When would Auron stop picking on her?

A/N: Hey, I know, I'm not very good at battle sequences, and I apologize for that. ..; I'm also sorry that chapter two isn't very good either. But once I get going, I promise that everything will get much better! Hopefully. And don't you just love the good healthy relationship of Auron x Rikku. I apologize if they seem out of character. But I haven't even finished the game. So no flames. Don't like my pairings, get over it. I'm not changing it. XD; And yes, I am pro-Wakka x Lulu. (: Feel free to IM me or Email me with questions.


	3. I Can Take You There

A/N: Yep! This is chapter three, and guess what, when I was sleeping, I actually got an idea for what to write. You'll see, and stuff. I'm on a roll time wise, but once this break ends, well, hello school. And laziness.

Munches on microwave White castles and drinks ghetto version of diet cream soda while watches bad daytime Cartoon Network. –

Disclaimer: Yeah, you know the drill. I don't own Final Fantasy X; it's characters or the setting yadda, yadda, yadda.

ENJOY! D

**Paint me a smile**

**I'm covered and colored with one, only one...**

**'Cause baby I'm alone,**

**alone without you**

**What am I supposed to do?**

**I'm alone, alone without you**

**and the color blue**

Colors, dj Taka.

Now where were we with our beautiful, sporty blond friend? Oh yes, she was reluctantly storming up towards the titanic mansion where Maester Seymour lived. Or called a humble abode. Humble, yeah, right, humble was the term that you used when you didn't walk around high and mighty and make your status known to everyone. Especially when they already know that you're a Maester. You didn't go around making speeches about how you'll change the world because you're you. Rikku felt as if this Maester was bad news, and she hadn't even seen him, met him, or, to be honest, heard of him. But if he was asking Yuna to meet him, or talk to him, or have some kind of dinner, he's got to be bad news. Taking away cousin Yunie from poor, left out Rikku. Wonder what he looked like… She heard he was Guado, so did he have like branches sticking out from his hair. Or those weird claw like hand things. Scratching the back of her neck, she arched a single eyebrow, tilting her head to the side as she noticed that the group seemed to be standing outside, rather than inside. So Auron had no right to be telling Rikku that she needed to be hurrying up, did he?

"Hey guys, why aren't you inside yet?" Rikku asked, still curious, head still tilted to the side, much like you see a cat do when you make a funny face at it.

"We were waiting for you, and the invitation to come in," Yuna promptly responded; still, as always, the warm smile on her elegant, fragile features. A gentle breeze seemed to set her hair off, out of its perfect position. But it still looked as if even the strands that were misplaced were purposely set there. Sometimes Rikku envied Yuna's beauty.

Rikku only nodded and squirmed past Wakka and Lulu, standing next to Yuna, in front of Auron. Who gave a quiet grunt as she walked by, taking a step back so she wouldn't blame him for trying to trip her. Rikku swore that she heard a sad sounding tune of music in the background; she swore that she heard the keys of a piano being played with a violin. But perhaps that could have just been her. If she said something, what would the likelihood of anyone believing her be? Yuna would believe her, Tidus might just raise an eyebrow. Lulu would show no emotion, and Wakka would try to say something witty, and then go '_ya?_' at the end. Kimahri… Well, it was almost impossible for her to tell what he was thinking. Them Ronsos, eh? Auron would scoff, roll his eye, and then cross his arms and shake his head as if she was pitiful. So best not say anything, people might think you're weird.

"Maester Seymour invites you to come in, he will be right with you, thank you for patiently waiting," a Guado man said flatly. Holding open the door politely as the party single-filed through the passage into a grand waiting room. Rikku glanced up at the walls, covered with portraits, they all looked… The same. That was kind of creepy. Was the Lord of Guadosalam the same person, or did he have, like, a million twin kiddies to rule after him. She bit down on her lower lip to keep herself from giggling or laughing at the thought, because more than surely she'd probably cause some kind of disrespect to Yevon. Or something. Then Auron would use that huge Katakana thing of his and slice off her head.

_Al Bhed de Rikku head, anyone? _

_Sure, I'd love some._

No restraints, I guess it'd be all right to go wander up the steps and take a look at every single one of them, maybe try and find out a difference between each picture. Kind of like those: 'What's different in this picture?' puzzle that you find in the newspaper in the comic section. Quietly tip-toeing up the stairs, to get a better look at the portraits, she flinched when she heard the stern drone that was Auron.

"What're you doing? Get back over here."

"I was just getting a closer look at the Maesters, just to see… If they ha-" she broke off her sentence, can't have Auron knowing why you were really looking at them. "Just to see who was a Maester when and stuff." Nice recovery Rikku, you barely managed to escape that one, next time don't screw up, all right? A small phew of relief left her barely parted lips, but she tensed up once again as Auron spoke to her.

"Then you better be ready when Maester Seymour is ready."

Rikku didn't respond, just waved him off as if he was a fly pestering her ears. In a way that's all he really was to her. A mutual relationship, assuming Auron thought of her as nothing more than an obnoxious fly. To be honest, that's probably one of the most accurate descriptions of Rikku that he thought of her as. If that makes any sense. Staring at one of the portraits, she extended her hand, running her finger gently below the title of it. Her eyebrows were raised, giving her a fairly innocent look, only if you were paying attention to her. Which, obviously, none of them were, so it doesn't matter. Moments later, she found herself running her hand gently down the wall, curiously looking at it, as if it held some kind of subliminal message behind the patterns. Rikku had no idea what was making her act this way, but it was as if she felt her mind being tweaked. Within moments, her hand was back to normal, resting at her side as if it hadn't acted differently at all.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting," a cool, slick voice said. Sounding as if out of nowhere.

"Maester!" Wakka looked over sharply, coming to attention, giving a slight bow to show respect. Which only seemed to make Maester Seymour get even more full of how much power he had.

"Maester Seymour, I thank you for inviting us." Yuna said, in that same voice that she always used. Now even more graciousness in it than usual.

"It's a pleasure having another summoner, especially one suck as you. The daughter of High Summoner Braska, it truly is an honor." Sharp blue eyes flicked about the room, landing on everyone at least once. He took his time to scan who was there, who her guardians were. Mentally calculating what their weaknesses and strengths were. Then those eyes fell upon the tall figure of Auron, when they did, a small smirk twitched at the corners of his lips. "Ah, The Legendary Guardian Sir Auron himself."

Auron didn't bust a move; he didn't take on a groove, kept his cool. Only making a mall nod, he didn't find anything that he needed to say, because, well, quite frankly, there was nothing to be said.

"But enough of this, I'm sure you're exhausted and famished from the long trip through the Macalania Forest. I hope you didn't run into too many of those horrible fiends that reside there." Something about his voice made Tidus feel unsafe in this place, maybe it was something that this Maester Seymour guy seemed to be _too_ nice for his own good. But Tidus wasn't quite able to place it. Best just ignore it for now; it'd probably be a bad idea to go jumping to conclusions based on a first impression. "Come, follow me, you'll find yourself comfortable, and something to eat," Seymour finished his little offer with a smooth hand motion. Turning on his heels, as if perfectly planned out, then strode on through a heavily decorated door, the rest following close behind.

"Rikku!" Auron hissed quietly to catch her attention.

Hearing his voice, she spun around, startled, beginning to go down the stairs, two at a time. Almost immediately she lost her balance, tumbling down the stairs, head first and landing at the bottom of the flight ungracefully. "What?" Rikku took on a whiney tone of voice as she asked this to Auron. Instead of giving him eye contact though, she was staring blankly up at the ceiling. A lack of emotion in her eyes, aside from maybe a little embarrassment, but only a little.

"I told you that you needed to be showing the proper respect towards the Maester. Now come on, they've left this room." Auron stared down at her scrawny frame for a moment, shaking his head, embarrassed that she was in their group.

Hearing Auron's statement, Rikku stood up, brushing herself off, and glancing down at the palms of her hands. Furrowing her brow as she saw just a small cut on the middle of her pointer finger. Oh man… This wasn't good. She was just a little squeamish, just ignore it, you'll be fine, besides, it'll stop in like two minutes. "I'm coming," she said, though unlike the norm, she didn't sound disgusted with him. Just trailed after like a dog obeying its owner.

As the door opened, the group of people glanced over towards the newcomers to the room. Yuna looked a little shocked, she swore that Rikku was with them, and because Rikku's clothes looked to be a little out of order. As in, well, not as perfect as they were. "Oh Rikku, glad you made it. You too, Sir Auron."

"Yunie!" Rikku leapt over with ease, grinning from ear to ear, completely forgetting the fact that Seymour was busy talking about something. Though the look that she was given from her cousin made Rikku look up towards Seymour, and suddenly she felt so small. Her eyes grew wide in nervousness, and she mumbled a quick sorry. Swallowing hard, something about that Seymour guy made her feel uncomfortable, made her feel as if she was nothing, maybe even invisible. As she bit down on her lower lip, she swore she could feel the gaze of Auron burning a hole into the side of her skull. Feeling to scared to bother looking over at him, and I don't blame her, I'd be scared too.

"Quite all right," he paused, realizing he didn't know her name, taking a step down from where he was and approaching cautiously. "Your name, I'm afraid I never got to hear it."

"Rikku," her voice was small, and she deliberately avoided looking up at Seymour.

"Look at me," he whispered, his voice seemed almost tender. "There's no need to be scared, no need to feel small."

Like her meeting with Auron, she hesitated before she looked up at the one who was asking. Again, her eyebrows were raised, in worry that he'd do something because of her Al Bhed heritage.

Seymour gave a smile, "You shouldn't be trying to hide your eyes, they're more beautiful than you think they are."

Quite literally, her heart leaped out of her chest. Rikku swore she saw it propel out of her mouth and run down the hall. Deathly wanting to chase after it and stuff it back down. Having no idea why she was so scared, or feeling as if she was up in space and was weightless. It was that feeling that there was a butterfly that wouldn't stop fluttering in her stomach. The feeling of her heart pounding so hard against her ribs she swore she heard them shatter to a million pieces. To get a compliment like that was wonderful, but from someone with such power would probably be even more a compliment. For once, she looked up, almost confidently, and stared in his pale blue eyes. "… Th-Thank you."

"You are most welcome." Seymour paused, and gave a smile, before turning back around, and gracefully walked up to a small, raised area. "I'm sure you all have heard of the farplane, it's quite amazing how it works. It works in a way something like this does," a flip of the light turned the room pitch black. But within a moment, it was lit up again, not with lights. No. But with something more spectacular, eye-popping, amazing, and other overly cliché words of that same sort; it was Zanarkand, not how it is in Spira, but how it was. Before Sin had come. Before everything was turned upside down. Lights shone brightly in the dark, the buildings towered over everything, and the walkways were bustling with life.

Yuna gasped softly, her eyes were filled with awe, how could such a thing be replicated, even if it only was an illusion. She glanced over to Tidus, who seemed to look a little sad; along side of that sadness was something that looked as if his homesickness was being relieved.

"This was home," Tidus whispered to Yuna, "before I was warped to Spira."

"It looks like quite the place to live, it's so fancy, so busy," she responded, looking up to Tidus for a moment, and giving him a broad grin, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears.

"It was busy, and it was amazing." That statement concluded their small conversation, both became silent as the illusion continued on.

Rikku was just plain stunned, she couldn't believe her eyes, illusion or not, this was what her dream was; ever since she met Tidus, she wanted to travel to the Zanarkand that they were seeing right now. She wanted to see it as it was. Mouth open slightly ajar, her eyes seemed to find themselves placed upon Maester Seymour. His perfectly blue hair, neatly styled, that tattoo, the clothes, everything. Her cheeks flushed red, as she quickly looked away. Doing her best to avoid looking at him.

"Don't stare, Rikku, it's rude." Auron whispered in her ear.

Literally jumping in her spot, she spun around to face him; "I wasn't!" she defended. Shaking her head once. His breath was warm when he spoke to her, and how she knew this. Well, he was that close. For some reason, she found his voice to be soothing, rather than, harsh like it had been so many times before.

Shaking his head slowly, he returned to watching the illusion before him. It did perfectly replicate every feature of Zanarkand; it was fairly impressive, he had to admit.

Seymour had strode over to Rikku once again, standing at her side, towering over her short frame. "I can take you there if you'd like. Take you to see the real Zanarkand one thousand years ago."

Startled, her eyes widened, remaining completely silent as the lights were restored to their original brightness. How did he know about her wanting to visit Zanarkand? Could he… read minds? Maybe he had been following her for time, learned about her, found out her dreams. Nah, that's nonsense! You'd have to be crazy to think something like that. Her voice lodged in her throat, she found it almost impossible to move. Eyes glancing about the room, she found that everyone was looking at the two of them speaking. The look in Auron's eye… Was it… warning?

A/N: I'll leave it there. What's Rikku's answer to Seymour's question? Well, you'll see. Now please review. PLEASE. I'm begging, I'll give you cookies, milk, canned whipped cream, all the orion.78 remixes. Anything. (: I look forward to writing more. But I want reviews.

This is my last day of midwinter break, so I'll probably take longer to update. Then again, probably not, I slack in school, and stuff.


	4. Falling Green Objects

A/N: Well, here's chapter four, I might just stop writing this if I get no reviews. ..; Ah, hell, who knows. –listens to HIM at 7:10 in the morning- Well, enjoy.

I won't answer questions you have about the fic, because I want you to come back to read and get your questions answered. D Sorry! (And there is a reason why I chose the lyrics I do. D But you might not know it.)

Disclaimer: Don't own any of them. All belong to SquareEnix, or whatever it is now. Squaresoft was better. O: I'm only saying that 'cause it's the cool thing to do, not because I actually… know. XD; I'm actually just like: Whatevazzz. Anyways, here's chapter four.

**And watch my purple sky fly over me (flowers)  
I linger in the doorway,  
Of alarm clock screaming  
Monsters calling my name  
Let me stay,  
Where the wind will whisper to me  
Where the raindrops  
As they're falling tell a story**

In my field of paper flowers,  
And candy clouds of lullaby (flowers)  
I lie inside myself for hours

And watch my purple sky fly over me (flowers)

Imaginary, Evanescence

Her eyes were wide, mouth still slightly ajar; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he just say that he could actually take her to Zanarkand, the one that was one thousand years ago?

As if he was reading her mind, "Yes, the one from a thousand years ago. You don't have to say yes, take some time, and think it over. I'll be at the Macalania temple if you care to deliver your answer there." Seymour paused, looking over to Yuna, "Dear Yuna, I'd love to see you again, if you would make a stop at the Macalania Temple, it would be more than wonderful if we could speak to the Fayth together."

Tidus didn't like the tone of voice that Seymour was giving Yuna. Or even that look, or that hair, all right, you get the point. Tidus didn't like anything that Seymour was giving Yuna. Doing his best to keep a straight face, doing his best to avoid showing the jealousy that was burning him on the inside. Did Seymour think that he could have Yuna just like that because he was a Maester, because if he did, he sure had his place to learn? On the other hand, because he was a Maester, he got all of those special privileges; everyone wanted to be like him, everyone thought that he was a God, that he was powerful. That he deserved everything. Sighing, he glanced to the side, avoiding looking over at Seymour, staring over in the direction of Wakka and Lulu, who seemed to pay more attention to Yuna than Seymour. Which made him smirk a little bit.

"I think we need to be going, we've got to get moving on the pilgrimage," Auron finally spoke up.

"I'm dreadfully sorry to have hold you up for so long. Please, I'll see you to the door," Seymour smoothly said, passing by everyone, while pausing as he passed Auron. Leaning in to sniff his left arm, "Ah, scent of the Farplane, I do enjoy it."

This statement caused Auron to give a death glare to Seymour, narrowing his eye slightly. Remaining unbelievably still and calm, Rikku watched this intently, her eyebrows rose, while remaining quiet, unbelievably.

"You should take a visit to the Farplane before you leave, you might find it comforting." He said this before he began to smoothly move across the floor, as if gliding on ice. Leading the seven-person party to the front doors of the mansion. "I'll have to part with you here. Do make safely across the Plains, they can be incredibly dangerous, especially in some times like these. Now I take my leave. Good day." With that, Seymour left slowly, with two Guado men at his side.

Rikku tilted her head to the side for a moment, were they really going to go to the Farplane? If they were, she better come up with a good excuse as to not go in and why, because, I don't think the excuse that she was more than deathly scared of it was good enough. Why not wing it? You did pretty good when trying to cover up your real reason to go looking at the portraits of the Guado Maesters. The group of people seemed to make their way in the opposite direction of Maester Seymour Guado. Rikku found herself almost reluctant to follow the group; it was completely obvious that she did not want to go to the Farplane.

Murmuring something quietly under his breath, becoming increasingly annoying with how slow Rikku was moving. So he made one final decision.

"Ow!" Rikku cried, leaping two feet in the air and hands clasping the small of her back. What was that for!

It seemed Auron had just thrust his knuckles into the small of her back to make her move faster. "We can't dawdle and lollygag, we're on a schedule."

"But you didn't have to do THAT!" Rikku cried, beginning now to actually jog after the group, mostly to avoid getting sharp knuckles stabbing her spine. That really did hurt; she'd be feeling it in the morning.

The cries of Rikku made Auron chuckle a bit, albeit, silently, can't let her know that he found her silly cries of pain funny. I mean, they were over exaggerated, they were loud, and they were obnoxious. And the fact that they were coming from a fairly short, young teenager just seemed to set off Auron's sense of humor. Though he couldn't let anyone know, he had a stoic reputation to keep. Can't have anyone knowing that he could actually laugh, right? Right! Wouldn't that be awful? But of course! Within a moments time, the party of seven completely different people, and a Ronso, arrived at the more than famous Farplane.

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Yunie?" Rikku asked in a small voice, her shoulders were almost up against her ears, and her eyebrows rose, giving her more of a scared look.

"Yes, I believe that I must go speak with my father. He'll know what to do. I just need some guidance, you know what I mean?" Yuna explained, giving a soft and gentle smile. The same smile that she used whenever there was hardship going on, and everyone needed some kind of support, or a reason to continue with the pilgrimage.

"Do you mind if I stay out here?"

"Do whatever you please." Gosh, her voice was so calm and warm, how did she keep it like that?

"Thanks, Yunie."

With one last smile, Yuna turned around to face the rest of the party. Giving them a small nod to signify that she was ready to go into the Farplane. As everyone followed, Tidus just had to look back, looking utterly confused.

"Hey, Auron, Rikku, why are ya' guys staying back? Scared?" Tidus asked, with a smirk on his lips, and, well, in some kind of taunting way. But what could you expect from him? I mean, this kid was probably scared himself.

"It's not real, it's just a figment of your imagination that you see. That brings back memories that you might not want to remember because they're too hard to think about," Rikku paused, looking down, and looking quite sad. But then she looked up, and there was the brightest smile that Tidus had ever seen her wear. "It's great if you just want to see what your missing one looked like, ya know? Helps you picture your memories better. But I keep mine in my head, locked away, because they're my memories. And they'll only stay there, ya know?" Rikku paused, and laughed softly. "That made no sense."

"Of course it did," the usually silent Lulu put in.

"And what about you Auron, why aren't you going in?" Tidus asked, placing a hand on his hip, and tilting his head to the side. In a manly way, you dolt!

"I don't belong." He left it at that; he felt no need to continue with an explanation on why he didn't belong. If Tidus wanted to, he could think about it, if not, that was all right with him, too.

"Huh." With a small shrug, Tidus turned back around and jogged up the stairs and standing right next to Yuna in front of the entrance. Which alternated colors, looking much like moving liquid. This would be an experience to remember, considering Spira was so much more different than his home of Zanarkand.

"Are you all ready?" Yuna asked softly, looking back down at the group.

"When you are." Wakka responded.

"I am ready, then," with a smile, Yuna slowly stepped through the portal-like thing. Tidus following soon after her, Kimahri, Wakka and Lulu quickly followed. Which left Auron and Rikku at peace, in total and utter silence.

To be quite honest, Auron enjoyed this silence, he found it soothing, and he found it relaxing and calm. He was seated on the dirt steps that lead up to the Farplane. Occasionally, he'd tilt his head back to see it. Not even bothering to speak to Rikku, there was nothing to say, and besides, a quiet Rikku was better than one who was talking. Statue-still, stiff looking, yet on the inside, he felt as if he was just plain loose and tranquil, if some kind of feeling like that is possible for Auron.

At the bottom of the path leading to the Farplane, feet quickly paced around and around in a circle. Arms crossed in sheer boredom, yes, just boredom. She needed something to do, something to keep her mind busy. Something that would-

"Will you calm down? They'll be back soon, you don't need to be so restless," Auron finally said, breaking the unnerving silence.

"I'm not restless, I'm just bored," Rikku responded, turning her body so that she was facing Auron.

"You are restless, if you weren't, you wouldn't be pacing about as if someone was going to die."

"You're talking to me as if I'm hiding something."

Raising an eyebrow, he was finding this conversation to be increasingly interesting. "No, I never said you were."

"I'm not restless though, I'm just trying to find something to do, ya know?"

"No, I don't know."

"Go figure," she murmured under her breath shaking her head slightly. The look in his eye though wasn't the same look that he had earlier when they'd met. It wasn't the same look that she got when she whined, when he'd look as if he was about to kill her. Rip out her lungs and tear out her liver. No, it wasn't like that anymore, maybe he was beginning to actually trust her? Nah, that couldn't be, it'd take more than a miracle to make him trust her. Right? Right. I mean, she was an Al Bhed, right? Which brought her curiosity to its peak. Tilting her head to the side for a moment, she placed her hand on her cheek for a moment, furrowing her brow. Contemplating the right way to phrase the question that she had in her mind. "Why did you let me become a guardian?"

"Simple, Yuna wanted you to be part of her pilgrimage," he answered, flatly, unemotionally.

"That's the only reason?"

"Yes."

"And you allowed it?"

"Yes, Rikku, I did. And yes, I do know you're an Al Bhed."

"But if you knew I was an Al Bhed, why did you let me become a guardian?"

"Because Yuna wanted it."

"So you just, like that, let some completely random Al Bhed girl join the pilgrimage? An Al Bhed that could strike at any time and ruin the whole thing to stop her from continuing on with the pilgrimage."

"Yes, I did, just like that, let you join the pilgrimage. Because if you tried to stop the pilgrimage, your head would be on top of a pole in the middle of the thunder plains."

"But,"

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" Auron interrupted.

Hearing this, Rikku looked down to her feet, noticing them shifting uncomfortably in their spot. There was no need to answer Auron's sarcastic remark; it'd only get her deeper into his disliking of her. Swallowing hard, she folded her arms across her chest, but due to restlessness, she dropped them back to her side, beginning to pace in circles again. Looking at the palms of her hands, hm, they looked incredibly dirty. Shrugging once, her green eyes glanced back up to Auron, maybe you should try talking to him again, he can't be that bad of a person, can he? How long was Yuna going to be? Why couldn't she stop asking questions? Humming a small tune, she held her hands behind her back, and then stiffly walked off in the opposite direction.

Giving a soft grunt, he shook his head slightly, debating on whether or not to go after her. If he didn't, she'd get lost, never be able to get back there because she'd die of starvation or something considering she wouldn't be able to find her way back to the pilgrimage. That wouldn't be a bad thing, would it? Of course not, in fact, that'd probably be for the better. On the other hand, Yuna would get barmy; irritated that he had let Rikku go off on her own in a place that she doesn't know well. Then they'd have to go back and look for her, wasting another three or so days just to find her. After that, it'd be another two to three days just trying to find the path to Zanarkand again. Sighing, he rubbed his left temple in frustration, standing up slowly, beginning to trail silently after Rikku. The consequences for letting her go off by her own and getting lost just didn't outweigh her not being there anymore. "Rikku. Wait."

"Huh?" hearing his voice, she arched a single eyebrow, turning to face Auron. Auron and the billowing red coat of doom; it'd be the last thing you saw before he took that katakana and sliced off your head.

"Wait."

"Why?"

"Can't get lost."

"I won't!"

"Yuna would make us go after you if you did, though."

"And that'd be a burden, wouldn't it?"

Grunt. Emotionless look. That's all.

"Thought so," she whispered under her breath as she turned back around to continue in the direction that she was going in. There was a smile on her face as she was smirking at the answers that he was giving her. Because, well, they were so predictable of Auron, and no surprise that he had said them. Maybe a nice tree to climb would be nice, for a view of the place, wouldn't that be great? Yeah. It would. Scratching the back of her neck, she continued down the path that she was taking, without a worry in the world. Past the mansion, till she found herself on the top of a smaller knoll, a few of the Guado style trees sprouting from the ground. Gosh, they sure were big, and those branches looked like something you'd see on an Ent. (Copy write Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein) Staring up into the branches, a smile came into play on her facial features; she jumped, catching herself abruptly on the lowest branch. Slowly pulling her weight over the branch and sitting on it for a second before standing up. Then she repeated the same steps over and over.

Staring straight ahead, Auron almost began to look frantic, thinking that he'd actually lost Rikku. Can't have that happening, especially right now. Because there were people who'd be outside of the Farplane whenever, and they had a pilgrimage to continue. Continuing as if nothing was wrong, passing the occasional Guado, his red coat billowing in the gentle breeze. Pants giving a '_swoosh swoosh_' as he walked quickly, with that 'don't mess with me' look. As he came close to one of the soaring trees, he looked up, only to see something rustling about in the leaves. It was… Green. A bird? Hey, it was getting closer too, why did he have to be curious right now? Tilting his head to the side, he noticed that the green object getting closer and closer to him was… Was…

WAS RIKKU! What! Having slipped from her place on the tree, Rikku was moving so fast through the air, occasionally hitting an out of place branch with her leg, wrist or head. Wouldn't that just hurt like crazy? Yeah, I think so too.

_WHUMP. _Auron found something large falling on top of him, and then collapsing to the ground under the weight of the object that had fallen from the tree. His eyes were closed at the impact, so he had no idea what it was that fell on him. It was kind of soft, though. Opening his eye slowly, he saw an eyeful of blond hair, and two feathers were tickling his chin. Squinting, it took just a second or so to realize that the heap on top of him was Rikku. He didn't seem to react at all, bringing a hand slowly up to his forehead, rubbing it soothingly.

In complete shock, her eyes wide in terror, which contradicted the fairly happy laugh that escaped. Within a moment, she realized that she was atop Auron, and immediately afterwards a bright red blush snuck onto her cheeks without warning. In embarrassment, and only in embarrassment, so she felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry, I just slipped, you know?"

"Get off, you're heavy," he murmured, rolling his eye, and taking in a deep breath before sighing irritably.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm going to take back my apology!"

"…" The only movement that Auron made was shaking his head slowly. Then he repeated. "You're heavy, please get off."

"You could at least say that it's all right, you know?"

Giving a grunt, he finally just shoved her off of him and onto the grassy earth beneath them. Quickly standing up, brushing off his red coat. The red coat that was amazingly untainted, no stains, no dirt, completely clean; how did he do it?

"Hey! That was rude!" Rikku cried as she scrambled off the ground to regain composure, or at least attempting to.

Tilting his head to glance back at her, he raised an eyebrow, shrugging one shoulder as if to say 'Oh really?'

"I'm serious! You shouldn't treat a lady like that, it's degrading."

Auron took a few steps closer to her, eyeing her down, doing his best to make her feel small and to make her feel like he was the leader. After all, he pretty much was the leader of the pilgrimage. Sure Yuna was the main character in the party, but that doesn't mean she's the leader. Continuing to stare her down, Rikku swore she saw smoke coming from the middle of her forehead from his heated glare. "If you expect to be treated like a 'lady', then perhaps you should act like one." With that, Auron hid a small smirk behind the more than large collar of his coat, pivoted on his heal and began to head back towards the Farplane. "We need to go."

Eyebrows raised, she felt somewhat hurt. Maybe he was right; maybe she needed to start acting like a lady. And maybe, just maybe, pigs would sprout wings and start to fly. Sighing in despair, her mind had settled on the fact that there was no use in fighting Auron, just no use. He'd win because he was the Legendary Guardian. The one who had to have everything perfect, and everything go his way because that was the right way. Reluctantly she trailed behind him, but not too close, occasionally rolling her eyes and making mocking faces behind his back. Hey, this is Rikku we're talking about; you shouldn't be so surprised. The faces that she made almost made her glad that Auron never glanced back to check on her, 'cause it'd be the end of her life if he did catch her. He seemed like the kind of guy that wouldn't tolerate such 'silliness'.

They traveled in utter silence the whole way back to the Farplane, where no one was, save for the guard that was standing before the entrance for it. Auron took his seat back on the side of the steps, and Rikku calmed down, sitting on a small pillar at the bottom of the stairway. Glancing back as soft footsteps were heard. Ah, there they were, and they looked ready to go.

"Sorry for taking so long." There goes Yuna talking again, in that same old voice she always used.

"No need for apologies." Auron responded as he looked up to Yuna for a moment, standing as he spoke.

Yuna returned this with a smile. "Right, shall we continue, then? We've got a long ways to go."

"We're ready when you are," Tidus enthusiastically added.

This made Yuna give another smile. "Right." Then she took off quickly down the stairs, followed by the rest of the crew, save for Auron, who delayed momentarily, giving the Farplane a look, a look that was perhaps frightened, angry, or a mixture of both. Though within a small amount of time, he was ahead of the group, leading them through the land of Guadosalam. Onwards to the next destination. While Rikku replayed the events that happened while the others were in the Farplane in her head, which made her giggle occasionally.

A/N: Sorry for this chapter, it was crap. I know. I ran into writers block while writing it. And I know it took me forever. I apologize. I luffz0rz you Mawlee. (: Eh, hope you still like it!


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